The Autumn Offering Embrace the Gutter Review

General Information:

Artist: The Autumn Offering
Album: Embrace the Gutter
Genre(s): Heavy Metal, Metalcore
Subgenres(s): Melodic Death Metal
Released: 2006
Length: 35 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Victory Records

Track List:

01. Prologue
02. Decay
03. The Yearning
04. Embrace the Gutter
05. Ghost
06. Misery
07. This Future Disease
08. One Last Thrill
09. No End in Sight
10. Walk the Line
11. The Final Cut

Embrace the Gutter is the second album by The Autumn Offering. It features a fluid blend of metalcore and melodic death metal, a style that had gained a lot of traction by its release in 2006, but Embrace the Gutter is far from a run of the mill bandwagoning effort. There are plenty of guitar leads and tasteful solos without many of the typical hardcore breakdowns or drawn out guitar chugging sessions that can be found on albums by many of their contemporaries.

Vocalist Dennis Miller has improved a lot since the bands 2004 debut Revelations of the Unsung and while he still utilises a throaty shout, it is more accessible and easier to understand than before. His lyrics revolve around personal struggles so the mentions of decay and disease are metaphors for these things instead of being over the top and literal like in other bands.

Aside from the excellent blend of metal guitar soloing and hardcore bridges, The Autumn Offering has some tasteful clean guitar interludes on No End in Sign and One Last Thrill that would have been a brilliant third side to the band’s sound if it was utilised fully. This third side is only brought to life properly on the instrumental closer The Final Cut and features classical piano playing over the drums and guitars. This then transforms into a cinematic interlude complete with wind effects that take up about half the song before closing with one final dramatic guitar chord and drum beat.

Embrace the Gutter is an overlooked album but it is a worthy addition to the collection of melodic death metal or metalcore fans. Its short length works to its advantage and prevents it from ever becoming stale or tired and instead offers a great deal of replay value.

Performers:

Sean Robbins: Bass
Nick Gelyon: Drums
Matt Johnson: Guitar
Dennis Miller: Vocals
Tommy Church: Guitars

External Links:

The Autumn Offering on Wikipedia | Embrace the Gutter on Wikipedia
The Autumn Offering on Metal Archives | Embrace the Gutter on Metal Archives